How much can we learn about the culture of a country when we spend one night here, two nights there, passing through many towns and cities in the space of two weeks? That’s the question I’ve asked myself since we returned home from a Rick Steves’ tour of Spain and northern Morocco.

Steves emphasizes “traveling” rather than “tourism.” He wants us to learn more about cultures and interact directly with the people who live in the places we visit, not isolate and thus deprive ourselves of potentially rewarding experiences.

Although a Steves’ tour can’t provide anything like cultural immersion, it does a better job than we could do on our own and gives us subtle glimpses into cultures.

Our primary tour guide, as well as the local guides in each place we visited, shared interesting histories, legends and perspectives. I wished I could take an art history class from the guide who took us through Madrid’s Prado Museum, not only for her interpretations of the paintings, but also to learn more of the gossip about those famous Spanish court painters who peopled their works with their own faces as well as those of friends and family.

The most striking introduction to a new culture came from our two days in Morocco.  We had the good fortune to tour a home remodeling project in the casbah of Tangier.  It belonged to a friend of our guide, Aziz, and was decorated with local crafts not seen anywhere else on our tour.

Spending a few hours wandering through the medina (market) of Tangier brought us in contact with a women’s clothing stall-keeper, affectionately known to his friends as Ali Baba, a delightful man, whose English proficiency allowed him to interject drama into our negotiations for several scarves.

“If I sell these to you for less than 120 dirhams I will be forced to give up my business. I will no longer be able to earn a living. My children may go hungry.” Nonetheless, he gave up the first one for 80 and a second for the same amount. His last offer was 250 dirhams for three scarves: a nice deal for him that sounded great to us in our confusion.

The biggest culture shock came immediately upon arriving in Tangier.  The waiting tour bus took us a few miles from the ferry dock to a busy boulevard and stopped.  “Now you will have your first Moroccan adventure,” said Aziz.

“You mean exchanging our euros for dirhams?” someone asked, as we spotted the currency exchange office.

“No” he said.  “Crossing the street. That will be much more thrilling.”

He was right.

Ann Oxrieder has lived in Bellevue for 35 years. She retired after 25 years as an administrator in the Bellevue School District and now blogs about retirement at http://stillalife.wordpress.com/.